1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic circuit measuring apparatus for measuring, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit and a method of preparing a debugging program for an electronic circuit measuring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1 of the type described above. A circuit 4 to be measured, such as a semiconductor integrated circuit, is connected to a measuring peripheral circuit 5. The electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1 comprises a plurality of power sources R1 to R4. The power sources R1 to R4 are respectively connected to corresponding pins P1 to P4 of the circuit 4 to be measured via switches SW1 to SW4 disposed in the peripheral circuit 5. The peripheral circuit 5 has a switch SWa connected between the pin P2 of the circuit 4 to be measured and ground. The electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1 further comprises a peripheral circuit control unit 2 for controlling switching on/off of the switches SW1 to SW4 and the switch SWa of the peripheral circuit 5. Furthermore, the electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1 comprises a tester controller 3 for controlling the above-described peripheral circuit control unit 2 and the power sources R1 to R4 in accordance with a program. The peripheral circuit 5 is disposed adjacent to the circuit 4 to be measured in a case where the electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1 cannot realize the measuring specifications or in a case where a problem arises in the measuring operation even if the measuring specifications can be measured by the same.
Then, an operation will now be considered in which a discrimination is made whether or not the characteristics of the circuit 4 measured in accordance with a measuring specification shown in Table 1 are satisfactory.
TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ Parameter to be measured Measuring Rated Values Conditions No. Parameters Conditions Minimum Maximum P1 P2 P3 P4 SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 SWa __________________________________________________________________________ 1 Leak current 1 V.sub.F = 0.4 V, IM 1 .mu.A 3 .mu.A M OV on on 2 Leak current 2 V.sub.F = 0.4 V, IM 2 .mu.A 4 .mu.A M OV on on 3 Circuit current V.sub.F = 5 V, IM 10 mA 20 mA OV M on on on 4 Terminal voltage 1 I.sub.F = 0 .mu.A, VM 1 V 2 V M OV 5 V on on on on 5 Terminal voltage 2 I.sub.F = 0 .mu.A, VM 2 V 3 V M OV 5 V on on on on __________________________________________________________________________
In order to measure the leakage current 1 and the leakage current 2 of the corresponding parameter Nos. 1 and 2, the following test programs TEST1 and TEST2 are required:
______________________________________ TEST1: Leakage Current 1 SET SW1 = ON, SW3 = ON SET PIN1 = 0.4 V, MEAS. MODE = I SET PIN3 = OV MEAS PIN1 JUDGE LO 1 .mu.A, HI 3 .mu.A TEST2: Leakage Current 2 SET SW2 = ON, SW1 = OFF SET PIN1 = OFF SET PIN2 = 0.4 V, MEAS. MODE = I MEAS PIN2 JUDGE LO 2 .mu.A, HI 4 .mu.A ______________________________________
Each of the above-described test programs includes a series sequence control which can be executed by the tester controller 3 of the electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1. In accordance with test programs of the type described above, the switching on/off operation of each of the switches SW1 to SW4 and SWa of the peripheral circuit 5 is controlled by the peripheral circuit control unit 2 of the electronic circuit measuring apparatus 1. As a result, electrical signals are supplied to the circuit 4 to be measured from the power sources R1 to R4 before the output signal from the circuit 4 is measured so that a determined is made as to whether the characteristics are satisfactory. For example, in a case where the leakage current 1 of the TEST1 is measured, the switches SW1 and SW3 are first switched on so that a voltage level of 0.4 V is applied from the power source R1 connected to the pin 1 of the circuit 4 to be measured, while a mode for measuring the electrical current is set. Then, the power source R3 connected to the pin P3 of the circuit 4 to be measured is set to 0 V so that the electrical current passing through the pin P1 is measured.
In this case, a debugging operation must be performed prior to executing the actual measuring operation so as to confirm whether the measuring condition set in accordance with the test program meets the measuring condition shown in the measuring specification. The conventional measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 5 has been arranged in such a manner that the electrical status of each of the pins P1 to P4 of the circuit 4 to be measured is confirmed by connecting a waveform observing device, such as an oscilloscope, to each of the pins P1 to P4. Therefore, the execution of the test program must be interrupted whenever the measuring condition for a single parameter is set so as to perform the debugging operation. Furthermore, another problem arises in that too long a time and too much labor are required to complete the debugging operation because it has been completed by human powers. In addition, the level of the quality of the result of the debugging operation cannot be stabilized because it depends upon the debugging operator.